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Orlando Franklin

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Buddy of mine I flew with played OG at Oregon State in 1981/1982. Ate 10k calories a day to maintain his weight at 275. Would not use roids because he was also ROTC. At 6'3" he had to drop 45 pounds to making commissioning weight. Strongest most cut I've ever known. Orlando looks great.
 
Coach Macho said:
I feel like Linemen are the only ones who lose weight after their football careers are over. LOL
Me and all of my buddies who played RB/LB in college PUT ON WEIGHT.

Good for him though.
Always been a fan of his.
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Have you seen LaDainian Tomlinson? Dude has had some burgers after his retirement...
 
Love Orlando Franklin.

One of my favorites over the past 15 years. Was really good here and had a really good pro career. Got out at the right time - just as the injuries started to get more frequent, he was out.. Dude never missed time either before that in the league. You could slot him in for a full 16 and had a string of like 4-5 seasons of 1000+ snaps.

Unrecognizable in that picture though.

Some of the transformations by these OL after they leave the league...like Franklin, Matt Birk, Alan Faneca...man, they don't look like the same person at all. Faneca looks like Daniel Day-Lewis ffs.
 
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Wow!

Dude lost half a head.

He don't even look the same!


Kudos to sir. Dude was a GIANT. And he blocked for manning at LG
 
SPAMM said:
I was always amazed by the before and after pictures of David Pollock on ESPN. He looks the size of Desmond Howard.
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Pollock went to HS (Shiloh) with my step-sister. She's close friends with his wife. I used to see him @ their softball games and he was a big dude. His injury is what made him lose all that weight though. He looks like a different person post-injury.
 
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CFB_Hogan said:
This is legit what offensive linemen do when their career is over. They have a constant workout regime, they just eat different/less. Marshal Yanda lost 60 pounds in three months. Joe Thomas and Sebastian Vollmer are just units.
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My roommate when I was at Miami played OL and he struggled to keep the weight on - he would eat so much trying to gain/maintain weight. After he stopped playing he dropped a bunch of weight - muscle and fat, but mostly fat - and it was slightly jarring whenever I would see him after long periods w/o seeing him.

Conversely, it seems like a lot of the players that tend to be slimmer (LB, RB, etc) will often gain weight after (although not as dramatic a change) as their energy expenditure goes down, but they don't necessarily adjust their diets b/c they were never eating as much as the OL players.
 
This all is the concern I have Donaldson. He is already grossly overweight even with training, prescribed diet and football practice activities. I can easily see him tipping the scales at 500lbs two years after he stops playing football. Unless he dedicates himself to healthy activities and eating.
 
Coach Macho said:
I feel like Linemen are the only ones who lose weight after their football careers are over. LOL
Me and all of my buddies who played RB/LB in college PUT ON WEIGHT.

Good for him though.
Always been a fan of his.
Click to expand...
Ha! My comment above re: RBs and LBs putting on weight was before I saw this one.
 
What an amazing transformation.

I was at the U at the same time as Franklin and bumped into him on several occasions. One of the largest Canes I've ever seen.
 
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Always good to see linemen get back to healthy weight when their playing career is over. Even if you’re active and eat relatively healthy, you’re doing a lot of health damage just waking around at 300+ pounds. For some guys it’s easy because they spent their career trying to be big but when they no longer have to force themselves to be as big, the weight comes off. For other guys, especially guys who are more naturally big, it’s a nightmare. They keep the same diet but without the vigorous exercise regimen and the health issues mount up.
 
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Coach Macho said:
I feel like Linemen are the only ones who lose weight after their football careers are over. LOL
Me and all of my buddies who played RB/LB in college PUT ON WEIGHT.

Good for him though.
Always been a fan of his.
Click to expand...
Almost seriously, one of the most notable cases was the weight loss of NFL great Alan Page. Member of that great DL of the 1970’s Vikings. (Known as the Purple Prople Eaters). Toward the end of his career he spent offseason running a lot and a diet, maybe vegetarian, and came back for one of his final seasons super skinny. I remember watching him play and he looked way too light for a down lineman in the pros.

Had a big career after the pros. Last I heard he was a justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court.

According to this thread Page became an avid runner including marathons.

https://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=3224788
 
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losing all that weight helped uncross his eyes. kudos to the young man!
 
Billy D Williams said:
This all is the concern I have Donaldson. He is already grossly overweight even with training, prescribed diet and football practice activities. I can easily see him tipping the scales at 500lbs two years after he stops playing football. Unless he dedicates himself to healthy activities and eating.
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I’ve had the same concern with Vince Wilfork. Both his parents died early from what could have been weight -related medical problems. Vince was huge. Hope he’s taken steps to address any weight-related issues.
 
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